Agenda item

Report of Director of Tourism and Enterprise.

Cabinet lead member:  Councillor Margaret Bannister.

Option 2, as described in the report, approved as the governance structure for Devonshire Park operations (to be introduced following the completion of the project), subject to necessary work on the detail of the governance structure being undertaken and proving satisfactory.

(2) Revised closure period of the Winter Garden agreed.

25.1 Councillors Freebody and Jenkins addressed the cabinet indicating support for option 2 and welcoming the cost saving achieved through the changed closure period for the Winter Gardens. 

25.2 Cabinet considered the report of the director of tourism and enterprise.  The Devonshire Park project represented a £44m investment by the council which would restore 3 historic buildings: the grade II listed Devonshire Park Theatre; the grade II listed Winter Garden and the grade II star listed Congress Theatre. The project also included the demolition of the existing Congress Suite buildings and the Devonshire Park Pavilions, to be replaced by a new Welcome Building which would provide a new reception area for the whole site, new catering and meeting room facilities, improved access and 1,000 sq. m. of new conference/exhibition space.  Other elements of the project included refurbishment of existing peripheral buildings, new player changing facilities and accommodation for tennis, improvements to the International Tennis Centre, a new show court, reconfiguration and irrigation of existing courts and major landscape improvements.

25.3 When fully operational, the investment would provide an opportunity to manage the Devonshire Park site as a single entity (excluding the Towner Art Gallery which would continue to be owned by the council but run separately by the existing Towner Trust).  At present, the functions of theatres, catering and events (which included grounds maintenance) were all managed as separate units within the tourism and enterprise directorate.

25.4 David Clarke Associates (DCA) had been engaged to review the best future governance options for Devonshire Park.  Four options for the future governance had been identified:

• Option 1: Continued local authority direct management.
• Option 2: Wholly owned but organisationally discrete local authority managed operations.
• Option 3: Establishing a trust and contracting with it to provide management of the site.
• Option 4: Commercial operator options for contracting out the management of the site.

The merits of the different options were detailed in the report.  Having considered all the 4 options further and in particular the ‘organisationally discrete’ and the trust models (options 2 and 3), it appeared that the former was preferable in terms of reconciling the wider needs of the town and its visitor economy with the commercial success of the Devonshire Park site. 

25.5 The exact management structure had still to be determined but it was envisaged that Devonshire Park would be under the management of a senior officer with a single reporting line to the director of tourism and enterprise.  Some preparation for this new structure, including revising senior management roles and functions could be implemented during the transition phase (starting from January 2017); however, the move to an option 2 delivery model would be phased and would not be fully implemented until after the Devonshire Park project was completed.  An early consultation process had been commenced with the staff affected by the proposed changes.

25.6 The cabinet report of the 9 December 2015 included a project plan which showed the Winter Garden as closed from January 2018 to April 2019.  During the negotiations with the selected contractor the project team had identified that bringing the closure of the Winter Garden forward to the 4 September 2017 would allow the contractor to work far more efficiently, particularly in respect of completing and testing the complex mechanical and electrical services which would link the Congress Theatre, Welcome Building and Winter Garden.  The Winter Garden would re-open in December 2018 rather than April 2019.  A September closure would allow a number of major bookings which the council wished to retain in future years to take place.  This efficiency would generate a saving of some £75,000 (net of any payments made for cancelled bookings).  In addition, because the construction programme was shorter, there would be a saving on the inflation cost for the £6m Winter Garden scheme.  The closure periods to any of the buildings on the Devonshire Park site would have an impact on future staffing arrangements.  Management, together with human resources had been working with Unison to try to minimise the potential impacts on jobs.  This process was ongoing.

25.7 Resolved (key decision): (1) That option 2, as described in the report, be approved as the governance structure for Devonshire Park operations (to be introduced following the completion of the project), subject to necessary work on the detail of the governance structure being undertaken and proving satisfactory.

(2) That the revised closure period of the Winter Garden be agreed.